Gothikana

When Vad retrieves Corvina, he echoes Mrs. Remi’s urgency about returning to the castle, though he credits this with dark and treacherous mountain roads, not the full moon. Vad also knows the legend of the Slayers; he explains that there were seven of them and that the unmarked graves at the ruins are empty, which he knows from tracking the investigation into the disappearances.

The storm worsens, and they pull over as the roads become treacherous. Vad explains that he “cannot afford to get attached” (143) but that he feels increasingly drawn to Corvina. They have sex, which they agree they will do only once, calling it “their madness,” which they hope to satisfy. Corvina hears Mo’s voice urging her that Vad is “important.” Vad is confused when Corvina calls Mo’s name.

A photograph shows a short, white candle on a short candlestick and a longer, dark candle on a taller candlestick. Both candles are lit on a black background. A quote from the film The Addams Family reads, “Black is such a happy color” (152).

Vad is jealous of the mysterious “Mo,” as Corvina said his name while they were having sex. He urges himself to forget this and to stop thinking about Corvina, as “he had Verenmore to consider” (153).

An image shows a raven on the left, banking toward a full moon. A larger photograph shows jagged mountain peaks; the peak in the foreground is darker, the one in the background lighter. Clouds hover above the mountains. A quote from Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto reads, “The hearts of both had drunk so deeply of a passion which both now tasted for the first time” (156).

Corvina resents the apparent ease with which Vad returns to their student-professor relationship. Her friends gossip over the school’s controversial decision to open “the Vault,” a dungeon beneath the castle, which was locked after the Slayers were found to commit crimes there. Vad encouraged the school to open the Vault as a recreation space for students, but Jade finds the timing suspect, given the approaching Black Ball.

The students turn to discussing Vad’s strange habit of walking in the mysterious woods. Corvina looks up to see Vad watching her, apparently jealous over her proximity to Jax. Corvina is similarly jealous when she sees Dr. Harbor, another professor and a former romantic partner of Vad’s, touch Vad’s arm. Troy notices her interest and advises caution.

Corvina goes to the library, where she selects several romance books and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. Vad tugs her into a corner and kisses her, which she likes until she realizes that he has only done so because he is jealous of Jax. She refuses to answer questions about any romance with Jax, and does not clarify who Mo is when pressed. In class, Vad acts normally, which further infuriates Corvina. He outlines a research project in which students will read Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus and Stoker’s Dracula. Corvina notes the parallels between her romance with Vad and the tragic ending of Dracula.

In another class, Corvina hears Mo’s voice urging her to “help him.” Alarmed, she follows Mo’s instructions to head to the tower. She runs into Vad, who notes her distress. When she sees another flickering shadow, he notices and asks what she sees. When she admits she sees a strange shadow, he releases her. She runs to the base of the tower; Troy stands on top, staring absently out over the edge. His gathered friends beg him to come down. Troy locked the door to the roof, so nobody can get to him, but Vad tries anyway, though he is unsuccessful in getting to the top of the tower before Troy steps off the edge. As Corvina stares in shock at Troy’s body, she hears his voice urging her to “tell [his] brother” (173).

Corvina comforts Jade and Erica, the latter of whom confesses to being “terrified.” Corvina finds it strange that Troy, who was afraid of heights, would ever go up to the tower. As Corvina returns to her room, she looks up at the tower and sees Vad standing atop it.

A photograph shows a chandelier on a dark background. The chandelier hangs above a wooden floor. A quote from Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights reads, “It was not the thorn bending to the honeysuckles, but the honeysuckles embracing the thorn” (176).

Corvina finds the presence of the other students in her dorm tower overwhelming and returns outside. She walks toward the university’s limits, considering leaving, as she is alarmed by the strange things she has been seeing. She finds the possibility that they are real or hallucinated to be equally alarming, though for different reasons.

Vad approaches and confides that he “never intended to stay this long” (179) at Verenmore. She expresses her doubts that Troy seemed to experience suicidal ideation. Vad, urging secrecy, takes her to a large attic, which he unlocks with a distinctive antique key. She adores the room, which is decorated in an eclectic style.

Vad urges Corvina to explain why she was rushing to the tower before she knew about Troy. Corvina fears she will sound “crazy” if she admits it. He offers to trade one of his secrets for hers. She has a panic attack when he admits to knowing that she spent several months in the same psychiatric institution where her mother lives. Vad soothes her and apologizes for pressing her before she was ready. He offers her a paper he found on the roof, which reads, “DANSE MACABRE.”

An image shows a raven, in the lower righthand corner, flying away from a full moon. A larger photograph shows the inside of a roof, beams exposed, angling toward a central high point. A quote from Anne Brontë’s “The Narrow Way” reads “But he that dares not grasp the thorn / Should never crave the rose” (188).

Corvina is initially confused when she wakes up in Vad’s bed, Vad sleeping beside her. She is touched that he slept beside her despite knowing her history of mental illness. She finds the prolonged contact—something she has historically been denied—extremely comforting. She slips away without waking Vad, but encounters Kaylin Cross. Kaylin disbelieves Corvina’s excuse that she was just going for a walk, and warns her against forbidden relationships with faculty. Corvina vows to stay away from Vad, more because he knows her psychiatric history than because of Kaylin’s warning.

Corvina takes a shower, which is interrupted by the sound of shattering glass. She finds a broken mirror, and when she looks at her own reflection in an unbroken one, she sees her eyes turn entirely black. She hears the female voice with the rotting smell, which claims to “know [that Corvina] can hear [it]” (194). Corvina leans to inspect her bizarre reflection, and this mirror shatters, too. Corvina screams, summoning Roy and another classmate. When Corvina looks at the mirror again, the second one is intact, only the first broken. Roy offers to wait for Corvina, though she dismisses her classmate’s claim that the bathroom is haunted by Alissa’s ghost. She says, however, that she believes “something” is happening with the castle.

Corvina finds Jade grieving in their room. Jade explains that Troy’s brother is “an investigator” who will come to Verenmore to retrieve Troy’s body. Jade urges Corvina to leave her, as she desires time alone. A photograph shows a Gothic-style arch, overgrown and partially in ruins. A quote from Albert Einstein reads, “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one” (200).

The atmosphere at Verenmore is gloomy following Troy’s apparent death by suicide. Corvina wants to call her psychiatrist, Dr. Detta, but can only access the school’s landline with permission from a professor. She seeks a quiet place to be alone and heads to the Vault, where she is surprised to see the same piano she heard playing in the tower on her first night at Verenmore. She wonders if the piano is a sign that she should cease avoiding Vad. She finds a couch in the corner and falls asleep reading Dracula. She wakes to Vad playing the piano, his posture reminding her of her first night at Verenmore. He no longer wishes to avoid her, as he found sleeping next to one another extremely comforting.

Vad asks about Corvina’s time in the psychiatric institute, promising that he won’t judge her. Corvina explains that both her parents had schizophrenia: Her mother is diagnosed, and her father, though undiagnosed, died by suicide after hearing voices that told him that either he had to die, or Corvina and her mother would, which Corvina sees as a form of protection. Corvina’s mother homeschooled her out of fear that, if her condition became known, Corvina would be taken from her care. Corvina, understanding that her mother needed help, contacted the psychiatric institute. Since moving to the institution, her mother has also developed dementia.

Corvina explains that she also hears voices, primarily Mo. Despite the high chances of inheriting schizophrenia with two parents with the condition, Corvina’s medical evaluation did not result in a diagnosis. Doctors contended, rather, that hearing Mo was her way of coping with her loneliness after a lifetime isolated with her mother, who was frequently silent for days on end. She fears, however, that the other voices she has heard, and apparent visual hallucinations means that she is developing more symptoms of schizophrenia. Vad urges her not to dismiss Verenmore’s influence too quickly, as it may be the castle, and not any mental illness, causing the hallucinations.

Vad and Corvina have oral sex, after which Vad insists that he is “done denying” their connection “for as long as this madness ensues” (210). He implies that jealousy may lead him to harm Jax. Corvina leaves, feeling uncertain about their relationship.

A photograph shows sunlight streaming through two arched windows. The inside of the room is old, the floor partially damaged. A quote from Pablo Neruda’s “Sonnet XVII” reads, “I love you as certain things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul” (212).